Monday, February 20, 2012

This article will share with you what I learned recently regarding cinnamon; an amazing spice with great health benefits along with some potential future use to combat type 2 diabetes.I'm a close follower of Mike Geary's newsletter. Mike is an expert in fitness and overall nutrition and is one of the reasons of my recent interest in better eating habits and why I decided to create and share this Blog with you. I highly recommend his books!

Cinnamon health benefits is again something that Mike brough to my attention via his newsletter and I really thank him for his hard work and passion in this domain.

Cinnamon - what is it?

Cinnamon is a sweet and quite tasty spice found mainly from South East Asia. It is a very old spice and you are very likely familiar with it as it is the primary spice used in foods such as apple pies and buns! What you probably don't know is the impressive list of health benefits of cinnamon and how it can help controlling your weight and blood sugar level.

Cinnamon Health benefits - another superfood?

Cinnamon is known to provide you the following health benefits below:

Anti-Clotting and Anti-Microbial properties

Consuming cinnamon right before / with a high carb meal can help reduce impact on your blood sugar levels. This is due to the fact Cinnamon slows the foods absorption of your foods in your stomach (up to 37% reduction based on some research)

Eating a meal high in carb triggers an insulin response by your body in order to keep your blood sugar level under control. For diabetes individuals, either their body does not produce enough insulin, produces no insulin, or has cells that do not respond properly to the insulin the pancreas produces. You can access the full report (video) below:http://www.diabetesreversed.com/presentation.php?subid=geary_diabetes

Cinnamon can help by both controlling surge of sugar level due to reduced meal absorption along with an increase ability for your body to respond to insulin.

Some people believe and even suggest that it can reverse diabetes type 2. However, current positive studies appear to have been small and larger trials will be required to confirm such findings with an increase confidence level.

What can cinnamon do for a non diabetes individual?

Keeping your sugar level under control is also important in order to reduce risk of developing type 2 diabetes (along with good long term eating habits). Also, your body fat burning machine is typically turned OFF in presence of insulin so adding cinnamon from time to time (especially when you are expecting a carb heavy meal) before a meal may help keep down these insulin surges and maintain your body in its "fat burning" state for longer periods of time during the day.

My experience and tips

I personally enjoy cinnamon taste very much. Adding cinnamon in a cup of coffee or green tea (instead of sugar) is one way to consume more cinnamon and my current preferred choice.

Please share your experience with cinnamon, the effect on your body and recipes.